Travel toons (Seattle/Pittsburgh/DC)

Dough Zone was delicious. So was Momosan, which we hit on the way back.

There are zero nonstop flights from Portland to Pittsburgh, so my new hack is taking the train to Seattle and flying direct from SeaTac Airport. You still cross the country in a day but there’s fresh air and scenery and better food on the “layover.” Bonus points if a Seattle friend can meet you for lunch!

I drew this on an airport bar napkin and left it for the bartender. Thank you for not making me download an app or enter a bunch of contact info to order one drink.

I drew this on the plane and did the ink wash in Pittsburgh. Cabin pressure and brush pens don't go together.

Pittsburgh International Airport. If I were feeling artsy I'd entitle this photo "Pittsburgh: Old & New."

The photos don't do justice to this view:

Pittsburgh has homes made of brick robber baron grandeur as opposed to Portland's timber robber baron grandeur. They're probably both super-haunted but so pretty.

We went down to DC for a day since we have family and friends in the area. We spent a lot of time on the Metro, but we got some walking in, too!

On the train back to Pittsburgh, Naomi and I were seated in front of 22 French high school exchange students. Naomi started up a conversation and we chatted with them for a few hours! One of them gave us a paperback book in French, so I gave them this record of our encounter:

No trip to Pittsburgh is complete without Pamela's pancakes. The location near my house closed since the last time I visited, so I tried the next-closest location. (I need a walk before and after going to this diner!) It's in the glass-fronted building below, which it shares with a Peruvian restaurant.

It has great murals and kid-art lining the walls.

I can tell it's been a long time since I've visited the east coast because I kept wondering if the waitresses were annoyed at us. But I think they were just living their lives and doing their job. When I first moved to Portland, people kept wondering if I was mad at them, too.

Anyway: PAMELA'S!

 That was a hectic but refreshing family visit. I'm back in Portland and excited to make some more comics. Thanks, as always, for supporting me on Patreon!